GUILTY TX - Fugitive con artists & 7 kids turn up on grounded sailboat, Galveston, Nov 2014

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Ive paid cash for a boat before...that's not unheard of..it needs to be titled but i think you have thirty days like a vehicle iirc..my boats were all used and less than 10k
 
The family was trying to make it back to Kemah but the cold front blew in quicker than they expected and pushed them to shore, he said.

The boat flipped, sending two adults and the children, aged 9, 6, 4 and 2 years old, as well as an infant, into the water.

The infant was not breathing when firefighter pulled her in and had to be given CPR, Lyons said. She began breathing and was taken to Clear Lake Regional Hospital, he said.


http://m.galvestondailynews.com/free/article_d830ee54-5feb-11e4-8313-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm
 
According to Admiralty Law, an abandoned boat can be claimed by whoever finds it. Finders keepers and all.
 
alwaysonmymind said:
According to Admiralty Law, an abandoned boat can be claimed by whoever finds it. Finders keepers and all.
Click to expand...

Well, no. It's not anywhere near that simple.

First, there's the matter of where the boat is located. In the waters of a specific state? U.S. waters? International waters? Location will determine the governing laws, and they vary depending on where the boat is.

Then, there's the matter of distinguishing between a truly "abandoned" boat and one that is not legally abandoned. If I anchor my boat and go ashore, and my anchor line breaks and my boat goes drifting toward some rocks, you might jump into action and save it. And you might well have a legal salvor's claim on part of all of the value of the boat. But you can't just claim it as "abandoned." Having a boat legally declared "abandoned" involves things like notices and good faith efforts to locate the owner.

And I'm sure there are other factors as well. But no, there's no admiralty lawy that says anything as simple as "finders keepers."
 
I could be wrong, but it seems odd to take such very young children out sailing. Just 2 adults, trying to keep an infant, 2 , 4 and 6 yr old under control? The 9 yr old would need to take charge of the 6 yr old, and while one parent sailed the boat, the other needed to watch the 4, 2 and 1 yr old. :eek: Does not seem like much of an enjoyable vacation. Maybe I am wrong, as I love to sail. But I never took 5 very young kids out at once. My husband and I had 2 kids, and we each had to take charge of one and be vigilant. Sailing involves some dangerous and involved coordinated efforts. IDK. Maybe I am just a wuss.

ETA: OKAY, there are 7 children. Now I KNOW that is odd. 2 adults and 7 young children, on a sail boat. :eek:
 
tarabull said:
This report seems pretty certain about the numbers...

http://seabreezenews.com/issues/2014 issues/11-14 November/Page_01c.pdf
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" ...the sailboat had been there for several days but did not start sinking until the north wind hit, causing the craft to list, which then allowed the waves to start filling up the boat."

So there were 7 very young children. And they were all sitting offshore on a sailboat for several days? Very odd facts in this article. Something is way off.
 
Do we know WHO on the boat was an experienced sailor? I learned how to sail more than 10 years ago but I know I'm not experienced enough to take my kids out with me.
 
Maiko said:
Do we know WHO on the boat was an experienced sailor? I learned how to sail more than 10 years ago but I know I'm not experienced enough to take my kids out with me.
Click to expand...

Could you imagine having SEVEN very young kids on a sail boat with you? That would not be relaxing.
 
This is certainly a strange one - now, I'm really curious to know how it all plays out.

I wish the authorities would just hoist the boat up. There has to be lots of clues onboard, unless items have been washed out to sea by now. Have they even sent a diver to check it out? In any event, if my calculations are correct, the 20 day waiting period is up next Monday (24th Nov) so hopefully some answers will be forthcoming soon.

It definitely doesn't sound like a joy trip, and I'm not thinking drug smuggling either, because of the entire family being onboard (but could be wrong there). I'm guessing they didn't even have a cell phone, or they would have called for help (or maybe they had one, but no place to charge it).

Why didn't one of the adults swim to shore earlier and get help? They were close to shore and the water was not very deep. They had to be running out of food, if the boat had been stuck there for days. The whole family would have been drowned if it were not for people spotting that they were in danger. It also appears the baby had stopped breathing, and would have died without intervention.

At the very least, they could have been charged with child neglect - maybe that's one of the reasons they took off.
 
A few initial thoughts---

The people had warrants out, or keeping their names false due to criminal activity.

Were they citizens or illegal aliens?

o/t, remember the case of the women on the boat, for illegal abortions iirc?
 
Were they locals, or migrants? The rescuers may have determed from their accents which was more likely. They probably also know the correct first names for the children, because usually the first thing people do, is to ask a child what their name is (unless they had already been coached to lie). The kids were traumatized, so probably would have given their correct first names, but it's likely no-one asked them for their last name - they would have left it to the parents to answer official questions.

The authorities must have put them up in some kind of shelter or hotel, so were they able to place a call to someone to get them out of there? It would have taken 2 cars or a large vehicle to handle that many people, and if they didn't know anyone locally, they would have had to call a taxi, or get public transit somewhere. Or, did they have their own vehicle parked somewhere nearby?

Urghh - so many questions and no answers ...
 
Something else - I recall the family reported as possibly heading to to the virgin islands or Mexico.

How on earth, would 9 people be able to sleep on that small boat, and if they couldn't manage to escape the boat for several days, when it was grounded close to shore, how would they manage on the high seas, if they ran into trouble? If nothing else, these adults are extremely reckless, and should be tracked down.
 
If these are people that are wanted (by law enforcement or otherwise), I am guessing they are very good low-key, non-attention seeking liars. Then they move on long before people start questioning their story. Their children are brought up to only trust mom & dad, don't talk to strangers, don't volunteer information, etc. Very interesting story as long as no one is physically hurt, but the emotional/mental damage is probably there to stay as the kids grow older.
 
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